The odds of two people who marry and have children breaking up before the kid is 15 is 25%.
If they are never married, the odds of a split before the kid is 15 rise to 75%.
Unmarried unions are less stable, even if they plan to be together.
I was just theorizing that the divorce rate is dropping because a) more people are shacking up as opposed to marrying and b) those that do marry, tend to be more sure about the relationship lasting long term.
Had a friend of mine that recently got married at our house over Memorial Weekend. Been having Vet friends in on Memorial Weekend for 20 years now. Anyway, 8 of us plus the groom went to a small bar on Saturday, the day of the wedding to make a toast and have a round. Just for the hell of it I did a survey of of all of us and asked each one how many times they had been married..... total number of wives was 23. I’ve only been married once and still am married (41 years).